"Kiss My Prius" & Other 'Okie' Musings On Environmental-Fanaticism

[An ongoing rant-series about those confusing science with religion, their methods & methodology as well as their "toys".]

"Hey, check it out. There's one, on your right . . . another behind us . . . two parked on the opposite side of the street. Shoot! Now we've got gray ones on either side of us -- We're caught in a Prius sandwich!!!" Arrrrrgh!

"Enough already", coming from the Amazing SoCal wife. "Give it a rest why don't ya! Why do those cars bug you so much anyway?"

Good question. Must be something to do with seeing nearly a dozen and a half of the ugly little, er, ah, mis-proportioned smiley-faced pieces of, er, ah . . . actually, it's not the vehicles so much (in a weird mongrel-pup sort of way, they're kinda cute) so it must be the drivers. You see, every time I see a cadre of these hybridized paeans to "global climate awareness", it's a very real slap up the side of the head with a metaphorical tire tool that says, "Damn, 'Okie' -- you be lammin' it in the Land o' the Lefty!"

Of course, I already knew that.

After my little bout of Prius overload, I dutifully accompanied Amazing SoCal wife to Chico's where I sat and read whatever flotsam they have for men to digest while their significant others shop. Yesterday, said flotsam was The Argonaut, newspaper to the beach communities. What immediately caught my eye was this story, Venice 'Virtual Town Hall' joined 1,300 others in 'Parties for the Planet'.

Venice, long known as a place where a good time is just around the corner, mixed a festive summertime atmosphere with political activism as local residents participated in a "Virtual Town Hall" on recent adverse changes to the environment Saturday, July 7th . "Parties for the Planet," sponsored by the political action group MoveOn.org, featured several of the 2008 Presidential candidates, who appeared via video to discuss their respective positions on climate change. Members of the political action group had previously provided each candidate with a list of questions asking them to explain their positions on global warming and, as President, what approach to this important topic they would consider implementing.

"We're trying to organize our neighborhoods into political pockets so that people can get more involved in saving our planet," said Heidi Mylo, a MoveOn.org member who hosted the Venice party at her home on Penmar Avenue in Venice. "It will also give us a chance to introduce ourselves to them."

Maraya Cornell, a co-organizer of the Venice fest with Mylo, was attracted to the event because she believes that global warming is one of the most pressing social predicaments of the 21st century.

"The reason why I got involved now as opposed to earlier is that this town hall is about climate change, which is a big issue with me, the thing that I'm most passionate about," Cornell explained. "For a long time, I've been very frustrated with the way that our government has been ignoring climate change, and I decided to do something about it instead of just complaining."

As I've stated many times before, it looks like our climate may indeed be changing for the warmer, but the evidence that the actions of mankind has any significant effect on this change is, at best, weak to fallacious. As for the Global Warming Alarmist Dr. Jeremey Pal's statements quoted in the Argonaut article, there appears to be a "theory" with a much tighter fit to the collected data than blaming temperature extremes on changes in greenhouse gases, (FYI -- the predominant greenhouse gas being water vapor by a large margin, not CO2, which they are so fanatically worried about.) But, if one accepts the premise that our sun and its effect on Earth's bombardment from cosmic rays is more likely the primary driver of climate change, you can't play the Left's hold card of tax, Tax, TAX -- spend, Spend, SPEND in support of those "scientists" that tow the anthropogenic-climate-change-consensus standard line.

I'd loved to have been able to poke my head in Heidi Mylo's front door and shout, "Hey, somebody's jackin' a Prius out here!" Bet that would have cleared the room. ;-)

Prius drivers, seemingly lost in their own little worlds of moral superiority ('cause, they ARE savin' the planet you know) manifest those feelings via odd, if not erratic driving styles. Not quite as inebriated-like as someone driving while using a phone, but close. Maybe it has to do with the absolutely-silly state-of-California traffic code provision that allows these vehicles, if properly stickered, to travel with a solo driver in the car-pool lanes. Give someone the right to break, flaunt actually, a major traffic law, and they might just get the idea that traffic laws and driving etiquette are only for the rest of the unwashed-carbon-emitting fuel-wasters, not for them -- those valiant knights & ladies of the Holy Order of the Global Warming Alarmists. And, it's not just on this side of the pond. According to a March '07 piece, " Who are you kidding?" on the Telegraph.com.UK:

Uniquely for a mainstream motoring publication, Telegraph Motoring gives a lot of coverage to environmental issues and technology, which is one of the reasons I offered my May 26 list of green cars in the first place. Although we rightly review every car on sale we don't applaud those that are excessively large or thirsty, and we certainly don't criticise people for wanting to do their bit for the environment (indeed, when it comes to reader responses to Sir John Whitmore's monthly columns, the boot is often on the other foot). Nevertheless, the unbearable smugness of some Toyota Prius owners presents a tempting target. Quick to point the finger at others, some use their Prius as public proof of a caring and moral "lifestyle" and put the moan into sanctimonious, as I have discovered in recent weeks.

The owners

However much fuel it does or doesn't save, the Toyota Prius has become a byword for fatuous lip-service to environmentalism, be it from those seeking to profit from popular green credentials - preening celebrities waving their Prius ignition keys in front of the media, or the likes of David Cameron and Ken Livingstone giving another cynical photo opportunity to a car whose success has been virtually guaranteed with public money - or private individuals who simply hate anyone criticising their choice of car (especially if it cost them £18,000). Such attitudes are more about self-promotion than saving the planet and are echoed by Toyota and Lexus hybrid advertising, which in the past month has been found to be (respectively) "misleading" and "untruthful" by the Advertising Standards Authority.

We know the Prius is a pretty remarkable vehicle, but it doesn't drive on water and it isn't the complete answer to global CO2 emissions. If you've got a Prius, fine, but please spare the rest of us your pious condescension.

It's not hybrid technology itself that irritates me so much, although I was concerned about the future-owners' out-of-pocket costs for NiMH (nickel metal hydride) battery pack replacement and the ultimate inevitability of disposal. Toyota has been addressing this for quite a while, and claims that their hybrid batteries are designed to last the "lifetime" of the vehicles, citing lab tests of 180,000 miles with no deterioration of the battery evident. They also cite the rapidly falling costs of these batteries as more are made in ever larger quantities -- about what would be expected as any new technology starts going mainstream. Funny, Toyota is strangely mum about the environmental impact of their manufacture . . . but goes out of its way to encourage recycling of these batteries with a $200 bounty on each one, claiming that their battery packs are 100% recyclable, which is a good thing. NiMH batteries aren't even considered hazardous waste, like NiCads, and can be disposed of in the standard municipal waste systems, except for in CA, where recycling is strongly encouraged for all, mandatory for non-household enterprises.

And, I do have to admit -- my automotive techno-slutometer gets pegged whenever I see an LS 600h!

The LS 600h L uses a 5.0-liter V8 mated to a hybrid drive system to deliver a total of 438 hp and mileage in the low 20s. Like the Prius, the longest Lexus can operate solely on electric power at low speeds for short periods of time. And, Lexus has developed a new hydrocarbon absorber to further decrease emissions. With or without the gas engine running, it’s eerily quiet and mightily comfortable, and it comes with advanced technologies, including LED headlights, pedestrian recognition warning and a driver facial monitoring system. The LS 600h L might just be the most advanced sedan in the world.

V-12 power with V-6 mileage -- that's what I'm talkin' about! Not to mention, all the toys.

So, it just gets back to the drivers. It'll be interesting to see how many of these little greeblies start sporting Hillary/Obama, Edwards/Obama, Obama/Kucinich bumper stickers, or whatever slate that MoveOn.org manages to squeeze out of the Democrats in this primary-election cycle. Suffice it to say, they'll have a big surprise comin' if they bring them in at end-of-lease with wall-to-wall nuttiness plastered all over their oddly-proportioned rumps. The Prius' rumps, not the nutters -- Heh!

[Cross posted at Okie on the Lam]